David and Victoria Beckham
Former footballer, current businessman and model David Beckham visited Finnish Lapland for a weekend in February 2020. The former set-pieces maestro and one of the most famous celebrities on the planet, did some winter driving on ice as he drove a McLaren sports car on the “upstream” of Finland in Ivalo and posted a winter picture of Finland to his over 60 million followers on Instagram.
This was not the first visit for Beckham, as in recent years, he has also visited Muonio “in the arm of Finland” with his wife Victoria Beckham.
Beckham is not the only football world star to have spent this winter in Northern Finland. In December, former Italian footballer Andrea Pirlo, also known from the American MLS, flew through Helsinki-Vantaa for a snow holiday in Finnish Lapland. The exact location of Pirlo’s stay in Lapland is uncertain.
Lionel Messi
Possibly the best footballer in the history, Lionel Messi, (almost) visited Finnish Lapland with his family in November 2017. The Messi family visit to Finland did not create a big buzz as the only real signs of the visit were the photos of their son Thiago that Messi’s wife Antonela Roccuzzo posted on her Instagram account and the family picture with Santa Claus on Messi’s own account.
The reason, why I used almost in the first paragraph is because Messi family was visiting Kuusamo, which is not exactly part of Lapland but instead in Northern Ostrobothnia. Not many details are known about the Messi’s family trip in Kuusamo, but it did include husky dog sledding, meeting Santa Claus and watching reindeers.
A local husky sledding guide described the most famous footballer in the world as “friendly, pleasant and well-mannered”.
Gordon Ramsay
Chef Gordon Ramsay has been a familiar sight in Finnish Lapland during the last couple of years. In 2020 Ramsay and his crew shot an episode called Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo ja Fred Sirieix: Desperately Seeking Santa.
During their Christmas adventure, the men traveled around Lapland in their motorhome, visiting Levi, Luosto and Rovaniemi – Santa’s official hometown.
In addition to tasting traditional Finnish food, the men threw themselves to test the best Finnish winter activities, tried avant-garde swimming and the Arctic sauna world, hugged ou in HaliPuu Forest and got acquainted with reindeer husbandry at Jaakkola Reindeer Farm. In Rovaniemi, Gordon, Gino and Fred participated in the sorting of Santa’s letters to help the elves and, of course, also met themselves at Santa’s Chamber.
In 2021 the final episode of Gordon Ramsay Uncharted season 3 was shot in Tornio and in this episode, Ramsay competed against a Finnish top chef Kim Mikkola. The episode was first aired internationally in 1st of August.
Shakira and Gerard Pique
Colombian pop star Shakira, and the Barcelona and Spanish national team footballer Gerard Pique visited Finnish Lapland in 2018. During their visit, both published plenty of pictures of their holiday on their Instagram accounts, which told that they had enjoyed each other’s company and the wonderful winter scenery, in addition to snowmobiling.
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene visited the municipality of Enontekiö in Lapland, where a traditional reindeer race took place in the Sámi village of Hetta in March 2012.
The royal couple spent about an hour observing the race, after which they had a lunch in Enontekiö before continuing to Kautokeino just across the border in Norway, where the Monegasques spent the following night.
In Kautokeino, Prince Albert spoke with reindeer herders about the challenges that climate change and industrialisation pose to reindeer husbandry. The prince also spoke on the same subjects as part of the World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference, according to the main organiser of the visit, the Association of World Reindeer Herders.
Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick
One of the most famous celebrities in the world, Kourtney Kardashian visited Rovaniemi in April 2019 with her three children, ex-husband Scott Disick and his current spouse Sofia Richie. The Keeping up with the Kardashians season 17, episode number three, which is called Three’s Company, was also shot in Finland during this specific holiday.
The party’s visit included a lot of activity, especially for the kids. Kourtney had apparently done her background research as she seemed to know that northern lights had been seen in Rovaniemi the previous week. This part of the episode also mentioned that no guarantees can be given for seeing the northern lights. Rovaniemi appears in the episode as a Christmas and child-friendly place – Kourtney also admits that she loves Christmas in the episode.
You can read more information about the episode and visit on Visit Rovaniemi website.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
The former Hollywood super couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have visited Finnish Lapland at least twice, the most recent visit being in 2011 when they stayed in Rovaniemi with their children.
Ed Sheeran
The world-famous singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran spent his 27th birthday in Lapland in 2018. After his stay in Lapland, Sheeran posted a photo to his Instagram account, where he was enjoying a traditional reindeer sleigh ride in a beautiful winter scenery.
Conan O’Brien
The famous American talk-show host Conan O’Brien visited Finnish Lapland in 2006 after visiting his doppelgänger the then-president of Finland Tarja Halonen. During his visit to Lapland, Conan crossed the Arctic Circle border, drove a snowmobile, studied the Sámi culture, visited a reindeer farm and learned how to drive a dogsled. You can watch some parts of the Finland episode on Conan Classic Website.
Emilia Clarke
British actress Emilia Clarke, known for example for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, visited Lapland in 2015, where she spent the new year. The famous actress published several pictures of her Lapland holiday, which began before the turn of the year, on Instagram.
During her vacation, Clarke took the joy out of the snow, participated on a husky safari, and went snowmobiling.
In one of her Instagram photos, the actress also thanked the couple who hosted her. Based on Clarke’s Instagram content, she spent her vacation as a customer of a travel company based in Rovaniemi.
Should you also visit Finnish Lapland?
As so many celebrities have chosen Finnish Lapland as their holiday destination, it’s a good signal that you should also visit us one day. If you want to know more about traveling in Lapland, we recommend that you check out our Travel Guide, where we will give you 10 tips for things to do in Lapland in winter.
Article image: Conan O’Brien visiting Finnish Lapland in 2006 | © Lapin Kansa
